by Val Tobin
Gabriel pulled out his laptop, and she watched him boot it up and settle into whatever office work he’d brought with him. Not a bad idea. Ellen removed her laptop from its bag and booted it up. If she was lucky, maybe she’d find useful information by the time they arrived in Vegas. She daydreamed about calling Detective Morris when they landed and telling him who she suspected was the killer. But when they landed, she was no closer to revealing the killer than she had been when they’d left.
***
Their suite at the Desert Island had a separate living area with a wet bar, a powder room off the living area, an en suite bathroom off the master bedroom, and floor-to-ceiling windows that afforded a view of the airport and Strip over fifty stories below.
Ellen had never stayed in a place so expensive and opulent. She spotted at least three televisions distributed throughout the over one-thousand-square-foot area. There was enough seating to entertain a crowd of guests. The colour scheme seemed outdated—lots of mauves and purples—but it was tasteful. The padded sofas, chairs, and love seats looked comfortable enough to settle in with a good book. Vases of flowers adorned the tabletops, and a bottle of champagne chilled in a bucket next to a basket of fruit and chocolates on the kitchen table.
“Do you come here often?” she asked, thinking management was rewarding him for his patronage.
“Often enough.”
The space and number of seats also threw her off the more she investigated the unit and found it worthy of entertaining a crowd.
“Are we having a party I don’t know about?” she asked when they’d finished settling in.
Gabriel laughed. “No. I like my space.”
“Sure you do.” She wouldn’t mind a party under normal circumstances but not with a killer on the loose. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t shake the feeling that whoever had killed Francesca and Katrina knew they were here and would hunt them down.
“What would you like to do first?” he asked. “The trade show doesn’t start until tomorrow, so we’ve got all afternoon free.” He opened his suitcase and removed a penknife from an inside pocket.
“What’s that for?”
“Whatever.” He slipped it into his pants pocket. “I always carry it, but I had to put it into my suitcase for the flight. Kinda feel naked without it.”
“Okay.”
He gave her a sheepish look. “My dad gave it to me when I was a kid. Sentimental value, I suppose. Want to go gamble?”
She thought about her insanely high credit card bills. “I should skip that. Much as I’d like to win enough to pay off all my debts, I’d probably lose it all and then have no spending money left. Why don’t we walk along the Strip? I’ve never been to Vegas before. It’d be nice to scope things out.” She’d glimpsed the Strip from the plane and couldn’t wait to walk through it all. The hotel lobby alone had left her bug-eyed and excited to see everything.
December temperatures in Las Vegas were chillier than they would be the rest of the year, so Ellen had packed warm clothes, but it wouldn’t get anywhere near as cold here as it was back in Toronto. Cold here meant fifty to sixty degrees Fahrenheit. Cold in Toronto meant minus twenty Celsius though they likely wouldn’t hit that low until January or February. All this could be over by then, and she and Gabriel could take a real vacation somewhere tropical. She thought about Francesca, who’d given up taking vacations and even starting a family because money and possessions were more important to her than either of those things.
Gabriel agreed to take a walk, and they changed into jeans and T-shirts. Ellen topped hers with a sweater, and Gabriel put on a light windbreaker. The current temperature was sixty-two, which, for the two Canadians, was positively balmy at this time of year. They rode the elevator to the lobby, and as they walked arm in arm past the registration desks toward the exits, Ellen heard her name called. A sinking feeling in her gut, she tightened her grip on Gabriel’s arm and turned to face Rhonda.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Hey! What are you two doing here?” Rhonda shouted, turning heads her way as everyone who heard her holler wondered if someone they knew hailed them. She had her arm hooked through Max’s, and next to them stood John and a woman Ellen didn’t recognize.
“Us? What are you doing here?” Ellen hadn’t told Rhonda she and Gabriel were travelling to Vegas because they wanted to keep the trip a secret. The sight of her friend shocked and worried Ellen. Surely, Rhonda had nothing to do with Francesca and her shady dealings.
Ellen and Gabriel strolled over to the two couples, and Ellen and Rhonda hugged one another.
“The software trade show. Max talked me into coming down with him. He’s interested in checking out the latest software for law offices. He and John booked this a while ago. I was a last-minute addition. How come you never mentioned coming?”
“How come you didn’t?” Ellen hedged.
“Didn’t get a chance. Once we decided I’d come along, I was frantically trying to book time off work, get ahead in my accounts so no one would miss me, and prepare for the trip. I only booked my ticket a week ago.”
“Yeah, me too. Gabriel was attending and invited me along.” Which was almost true enough. “I guess this show must be popular.”
“Oh, I’m so rude,” Rhonda declared. “You haven’t even met Luanne. She works with John.” Rhonda introduced them to John’s companion, a tall, leggy redhead with a pale complexion and an aura of sophistication. She wore a business casual pantsuit, and the gems in the jewellery she sported looked genuine and expensive. She stood slightly apart from John as though to signify to the world they weren’t together.
John smiled shyly at Ellen and gave her a brief hug. “Nice to see you,” he whispered in her ear.
“You too,” she replied as they parted. To the group, she said, “When did you all arrive?”
“Yesterday,” Max said.
“And you’re all staying here at the Desert Island?” Gabriel asked.
“Yes. And you’re here for the trade show.” Rhonda riveted her gaze on Ellen as she spoke.
Resentment bubbled up at Rhonda’s persistence in questioning their presence here, but Ellen shrugged it off as best she could and said, “They offer accounting software my company wants me to vet, and BRI has a table here for their reporting software and proprietary coding services.”
John’s stare pinned Ellen as if it were a spotlight, and she tried to keep her gaze off him. He couldn’t possibly think she’d led him on. From her periphery, she scoped out his expression but couldn’t interpret what he might be thinking. It was obvious she and Gabriel were more than just business associates, but she’d already explained to John she wasn’t interested in getting involved with him on an intimate level. She smoothed away the frown that kept wanting to spring to her face and betray her frustration.
“Where are you heading?” Max asked. “Care to join us in the casino?”
“Thank you, no,” Ellen replied before Gabriel could say anything. She wanted to speak to him in private and to spend as little time in John’s company as possible. In a way, she was sorry about that. If it weren’t for Gabriel and the deep rapport they’d established four years ago, she might have taken an interest in the other man.
She immediately caught herself in the lie. No, however attractive he was and however successful he was, they had next to nothing in common. They would’ve shared a few interesting dates and possibly some good sex, but she was sure a relationship with him couldn’t last. Better for both of them to avoid that kind of entanglement. Hopefully, he’d realize that over time.
When Rhonda next suggested they meet for dinner, Ellen couldn’t say no. She and Gabriel agreed to meet them at the Irish pub and restaurant in New York-New York for six o’clock, and they parted company. As soon as they stepped through the exits onto the sunny sidewalk, Ellen took Gabriel aside so they wouldn’t interfere with the rest of the pedestrian traffic and said, “I swear I didn’t know Rhonda was coming.”
�
��I could see that. You looked positively gobsmacked.” His voice and expression held amusement.
“That’s not funny. She didn’t know Francesca, to my knowledge, but she knew of her. I’m Rhonda’s connection to Francesca and to Katrina.”
Gabriel’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened. “You’re not saying you think your friend killed them.”
“No.” So what was her point? “I’m not sure what I’m getting at.”
“You heard her yourself. She’s here as a last-minute add-on. Max invited her because they’ve gotten close over the last two months.”
Ellen nodded. “It’s the longest relationship Rhonda’s had in a long time, to be honest. She considers herself picky, but I think she’s afraid to commit. When they’re together, they seem to have something I’ve never seen her have with anyone else. Frankly, he makes her happy, and I hope it works out.” Her jaw dropped as a terrible thought occurred to her. “You don’t think Max ...” She refused to finish the statement, but Gabriel completed it for her.
“Killed Fran and Kat? How could he have known them?”
“I don’t know,” Ellen said, “but we’d better find out. If he knew them, he might be our killer. He could be the one meeting that investor, and he invited Rhonda and John along as cover.”
Gabriel considered in silence, then said, “Or John did.”
Ellen’s heart almost stopped, and her eyes held panic as she gripped Gabriel’s arm with both hands.
“Fran consulted a labour lawyer before.” She gulped. “Dear God, what if he’s the one who compelled her to steal, and that’s why she never did it before she started working at BRI. She met him when she sued her previous company.”
“Now, you’re jumping to conclusions. We can’t assume anything—not even that it’s someone we know. Trust me, I know this from experience.” The smile he flashed calmed her and she returned it with genuine warmth and relief.
“You’re right. We’ll have to find proof. Call Zach and ask him to find out the name of the labour lawyer Fran used.”
He patted her arm. “Okay. Let’s walk, enjoy ourselves for a bit. We’re meeting them for dinner. We’ll get him to divulge he knew the women.”
“That’s the thing. He already told me he didn’t. We can’t just ask him. If we find out he lied, we’ll know he’s the one.” And she’d spent time alone with him, had invited him to her home. It would’ve made breaking into her house easier, since he knew the layout of her apartment and that it was separate from her parents’ unit.
“What if Max is in on it too?” Her chest heaved, and Gabriel cupped her face in his hands.
“Slow down, Ellen. You’re hyperventilating. You’ll make yourself pass out.” He kissed her lips, a gentle mouth-to-mouth that resuscitated her and slowed her breathing to a more tolerable rate.
“I’m okay.” She took his hand in hers and strolled along the wide walkway. “Look.” She pointed. “Dragons.”
On either side of the path stood what looked like gigantic dragons carved from stone and sitting on concrete pedestals that bore the name of the hotel.
“Not sure the heads look the way I picture a dragon head, but I guess that’s what they’re supposed to be,” he remarked.
She appreciated how easily he accepted the diversion. “Take a photo of me in front of this one.” She sidled up to the pedestal, the dragon looming out of reach above her. In front of her, lush green foliage grew in a landscaped plot and beside that stood a turquoise street lamp structure, ornately carved with four lamps curling up and out from the top.
“All right.” To his credit, he didn’t question the timing or why she’d want to do this. He held up his cell phone. “Ready?”
When she nodded and smiled, he snapped the photo. “Got it.”
With a glance over her shoulder at the hotel where Rhonda and her group remained, Ellen plastered a smile on her face and said, “Let’s have some fun.”
Chapter Thirty
Three hours later, Ellen and Gabriel arrived back at their hotel room to get ready to meet Rhonda and her group for dinner. Ellen had done some shopping, which added to her credit card load, but she couldn’t resist buying a few items of clothing and jewellery for herself and a bottle of Nevada vodka and some poker chips and dice for Gabriel. The chips for Gabriel were custom clay chips, and Ellen, for once in her life, didn’t blink at the price or consider the gift an obligation or chore. All she wanted was to see the look of delight on his face when she gave him the gifts, which she planned to do at Christmas.
She recalled with pride and amusement how sneaky she’d been, asking one sales clerk to distract him while she purchased the gifts from another clerk. The whole enterprise had been fun and exciting, and she suddenly understood why people who gave gifts enjoyed it. She set her bags down next to her side of the bed, and when Gabriel was in the living room occupied with calling Zach, she slipped her purchases into her suitcase.
“What did he say?” she asked, stepping from the bedroom. Unable to help the cat-that-ate-the-canary grin on her face, she kept her back to him and fixed herself a drink at the bar.
“Didn’t talk to him.”
Her grin vanished and she whirled around to face him. “Why?”
“I had to leave a voicemail, but I’m sure he’ll get back to me. I told him it was important.”
Ellen frowned but kept her concerns to herself. What could a few hours or even a day matter? They’d just have to be cautious, stick together, and avoid being alone with John. That should be easy enough to do.
Promptly at 5:50, Ellen and Gabriel left the room, Ellen hanging the “Do not disturb” sign on the outside door handle.
“What’s that for?” Gabriel asked, a half-smile on his lips.
“To fool burglars.”
The smile widened to unrestrained amusement. “How will it do that?”
“Trust me. It’ll make them think we’re in there getting it on, and they’ll pass us by. We’ll leave it out unless we’re both in the room.”
The grin became a chuckle, and he patted his belly as if soothing an ache from too much merriment. “That’s awesome.”
“Glad you’re entertained.” But she met him grin for grin. Taking his hand, she led him to the elevators.
They entered the Irish pub at the New York-New York hotel twenty minutes later. Ellen’s nerves kicked in as the pair approached the table where Max and Rhonda sat. John and Luanne were nowhere in sight. As soon as she sat down, Ellen turned a questioning eye on Rhonda.
“Where are John and Luanne?” The two hadn’t appeared to be a couple, but Ellen might’ve assessed the situation incorrectly. In that case, maybe they should suspect Luanne along with John.
What the hell? Does he have a harem of women stealing for him? He’s not that charming.
“Luanne had a date, and John wanted to gamble more. I think he’s got a streak going. He said he’d eat later.” Rhonda laughed, and the mirth reached her eyes.
Ellen didn’t find this news amusing at all. John knew she and Gabriel were occupied having dinner with Max and Rhonda. He could do anything during that time, and they wouldn’t know what he was up to.
Ellen almost laughed out loud. What did she think he’d do with this hour or two of freedom? Break into their room? Put out a contract on them? Her suspicions sounded ludicrous even to her.
She settled into her seat, picked up her menu, and turned to Gabriel. “What shall we have to drink? Want to split a bottle of wine?”
He preferred to sample one of the Irish beers they offered, so Ellen ordered a glass of white wine. Red wine didn’t appear to be on the menu, so she ordered something she’d never tried.
The meal passed pleasantly enough, and Ellen could almost forget a killer lurked in their midst. After they’d eaten their food and drank everything they’d ordered, Max suggested they take a stroll around the hotels.
“Rhonda’s never been to Vegas before. This is all new to her.”
“To me too,” Ellen sa
id. “I’d love to explore the Luxor and the other nearby hotels. They all look so fascinatingly gaudy.” She laughed. The alcohol she’d drank gave her a pleasant buzz.
Gabriel’s brows shot up in puzzlement, but she simply smiled at him and patted his thigh. “It’ll be fun.” She turned to Rhonda. “I have to hit the ladies’ room before we go. Care to join me?”
“Sure.” Her friend rose and said to the men, “We’ll be back in a minute.”
“I doubt that.” Max chuckled. Gabriel followed suit though he frowned, a look that hinted at worry rather than disapproval.
As soon as they reached the women’s washroom, Rhonda did a quick check of the area. Two stalls were occupied, and one woman washed her hands at the sink. Rhonda pulled Ellen to one side.
“Why didn’t you text me to tell me you guys were coming to Vegas?”
“Why didn’t you text me?” Ellen replied.
“I’m sorry. It went so quickly. I kept meaning to let you know, but every time I thought about it, it was inconvenient. Next thing I know, we’re here and you’re stepping off the elevator with Gabe.”
“You could’ve texted me last night.” Both kept their voices low, as if the other women in the bathroom might care what they said.
“Yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t think of it. We’ve been busy.” Rhonda’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Max and I explored the Strip, had dinner at a really nice restaurant at the Desert Island, and went to a show.”
“Did John and Luanne go with you?”
Rhonda’s brows arched and her mouth quirked up. “You jealous?”
“I’m curious. What’s the story with him and Luanne?”
“She’s an assistant at his law firm, like I told you.”
“Yeah, but what was she doing with John if she’s seeing someone else?”
Rhonda laughed. “Just hanging out.”
Ellen didn’t buy it. “Has she just hung out with him a lot here?”
